Russia may have already lost a quarter of its tanks available since the invasion of Ukraine, a “colossal” figure, according to military experts. The destruction of the T-72, T-80 or T-90 models are explained by their technical characteristics, but also tactical errors.
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This is one of the multiple questions raised by the Ukrainian conflict: why do the Russians lose as many armored vehicles, and in particular tanks, in the fighting? Since the start of the “Special Operation”, launched on February 24 by Vladimir Putin, nearly seven hundred tanks in the colors of the ex-red army have been put out of harm, according to the specialized site Oryx, which Accounts the losses of each camp, based on the images disseminated in the media or on social networks.
A “colossal” figure, according to military experts. “Seven hundred tanks, this represents almost the entire park available in Western Europe,” said Léo Péria-Peigné, researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). And again, the level of losses is undoubtedly underestimated, since it is based only on visual evidence: the Ukrainian army claims to have destroyed a thousand three hundred tanks and three thousand Russian armored vehicles, without it either possible to check it.
Whatever the figure selected, these losses represent an important part of the Russian arsenal. According to the specialists, Moscow had before invading Ukraine about three thousand tanks in working order, to which must be added a stock of about ten thousand units more or less well maintained. In other words, Vladimir Putin may already have lost a quarter of his available park. “We expected significant losses, but not of such a level,” recognizes a French military source.
design defect
According to specialists, this hemorrhage is first explained by technical characteristics. Designed during the Cold War, the Russian tanks currently engaged in Ukraine, whether it is the T-72, the most deployed model, but also T-80 or T-90s, more modern, but less present, have always privileged a compact form. Lighter and less high than their Western counterparts -a T -80 represents a target half less than an American abrams, for example -they are deemed to be very mobile during the battle.
HIC? Due to their compactness, Russian tanks can only embark three crew members, against four in Western armored vehicles. To replace the charger – the soldier present to insert the shells in the barrel -, the Soviet engineers endowed their armored vehicles with an automatic carousel, forcing them to place the stock of ammunition directly under the turret, under the feet of the soldiers. On American and European models, the shells are stored in the tank’s neck, outside the turret, separated from the operators by an armored wall.
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